Short Story Monday

#8. Heart's Desire - In this story we learn the reasons behind the Merlin/Nimue story of Arthurian legend. Merlin is my favourite Arthurian character and the Merlin/Nimue relationship intrigues me but this story fell flat with me. It was just overall, rather boring.

#9. Hansel's Eyes - A retelling of the Hansel and Gretel story with a modern twist. The witch entices children not with candy but with PlayStation games and systems, nor does she wish to eat the children but rather sells their parts for organ transplants. This was very good and one of my favourites.

#10. Hope Chest - This is one of the longer stories in the book and aside from the title novella, my favourite story in the book. This is set in a quasi wild west/alternate USA world. A baby is found abandoned in a small town. One family adopts her and she grows up to be a young lady. The baby was found with a large hope chest but no one has ever been able to open it. Upon the girl's 16th birthday, the chest opens for her and the girl's destiny starts to unravel as she must save the town from an evil that is taking over the world. This was really good and one of those stories you want more of and wish there were a whole book.

#11. My New Really Epic Fantasy Series - This is a humourous speech the author has given several times that is a parody of epic fantasy series. I didn't find it particularly funny.

#12. Three Roses - Very short, sweet fairy tale about a gardener who grows roses with the love of his dead wife.

#13. Endings - Another very short story. A vampire tells how, in the end, he was killed. The last two stories were short but I enjoyed them both.

This concludes my readings from Across the Wall. My next post will gather together all my posts concerning this book. I'll be taking a break from fantasy/horror with my next short story book. I'll be reading In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd.